Revolutions, as a way to influence a radical change in the existing order, have been beginning to worry advanced minds from the end of the 18th century. As a rule, the major revolutions, called great, marked the transition from a monarchical form of government to a republican one. This method of coup d'etat involves many victims. All known examples of revolution are a tragic part of the history of any country. We will analyze the most popular coups and try to answer the question whether or not the deaths of people who gave their lives for the idea were in vain.
Revolution: Definition
To begin with, it is necessary to define the term “revolution”, because this is not just a transformation, but a radical change that is transient. In general, this concept belongs not only to history. There are revolutions in science (some major discovery), in nature (a sharp change in any parameters, most often geological), in social development (industrial or cultural revolution).
This process should be distinguished from those similar in results, but different in methods and terms. So, the term “evolution” means a phased, very slow change. The reform process is a little faster, but it is deprived of the effect of lightning speed, and the changes are not so significant.
It is necessary to distinguish between the terms "revolution" and "coup d'etat." Etymologically, they are related, because revolutio is translated from Latin and means “coup”. However, the concept of revolution is more extensive, it refers to changes in all aspects of public life, while a coup d'etat, in fact, is only a change of power from one ruler to another.
Reasons for Revolution
Why do revolutionary movements arise? What is pushing people to get involved in such a tragic event that takes thousands of lives?
The reasons are dictated by many factors:
- Dissatisfaction of the bureaucracy and the elite with a decline in economic flows. Occurs amid economic decline.
- The internal struggle of the elites among themselves. It so happens that the upper layers of society are rather closed structures, sometimes dividing power. This struggle can lead to a real rebellion if any of the elites enlist the support of the people.
- Revolutionary mobilization. Public unrest caused by the discontent of all walks of life - from the elite to the very bottom.
- Ideology. Must support any revolution that has a claim to success. In the center may be a civic stand, religious doctrine, or other. The common will be the fight against injustice perpetrated by the current government and government.
- Positive dynamics in foreign policy. Allied countries refuse to accept and maintain existing power.
Thus, given these five points, the revolution can be considered successful. Examples of revolutions make it clear that all five points are not always respected, but most take place in such an unstable environment.
The specifics of Russian revolutions
Fundamental changes in the socio-economic order are characteristic of many states. Examples of revolution can be found in almost every European country, in the USA. However, nowhere did she bring such tragic consequences as in Russia. Here, every Russian revolution could abolish not only the political system, but also the country itself. What are the reasons?
Firstly, the special relationship between the steps of the hierarchical ladder. There was no “coupling” between them, power and the elite existed completely separately from the people. Hence, too high economic demands of the authorities for the lower strata, most of which were below the poverty line. The problem was not the excessive self-interest of the upper strata, but the impossibility to trace the life of the “lower classes” due to an imperfect management apparatus. All this led to the fact that the "top" of power had to subjugate the people by force.
Secondly, the advanced intelligentsia, nurturing revolutionary ideas, presented the following structure as too utopian due to insufficient management experience.
You should also take into account the peculiarities of the mentality of a Russian person who can endure oppression for a long time, and then “explode” at the same time.
These all the features and became the springboard of the emerging Bolshevism, which led to the Russian revolution.
1905: first revolution
The first revolution in Russia happened in January 1905. She was not very fast, because it ended only in June 1907.
The prerequisites were a decline in the economy and industrial pace, a crop failure, an accumulated huge public debt (the war with Turkey was to blame). Everywhere reform was required: from local administrative management to changes to the political system. After the abolition of serfdom, the industrial management system required processing. The work of the peasants was poorly motivated, because there remained mutual responsibility, communal land and a constant reduction of allotments.
It should be noted that the 1905 revolution received good outside funding: during the war with Japan, sponsors of terrorist and revolutionary organizations appeared.
This rebellion swept all sectors of Russian society - from the peasantry to the intelligentsia. The revolution was designed to cut off any remnants of the feudal-serf system, to strike at the autocracy.
The results of the revolution of 1905-1907
Unfortunately, the 1905 revolution was suppressed, it entered the annals of history as incomplete, but it led to important changes:
- It gave an impetus to Russian parliamentarism: this government body was established.
- The power of the emperor was limited by the creation of the State Duma.
- According to the October 17 Manifesto, democratic freedoms are given to citizens.
- The situation and working conditions of workers have changed for the better.
- Peasants became less attached to their land.
February revolution in 1917
The February Revolution of 1917 was a continuation of the events of 1905-1907. Not only the lower strata (workers, peasants), but also the bourgeoisie are disappointed in autocracy. The imperialist war significantly aggravated these sentiments.
As a result of the coup, significant changes are taking place in public administration. The 1917 revolution was bourgeois-democratic in nature. However, there was a special identity in it. If we take examples of a revolution in the same direction in European countries, we will see that the working people were the driving force in them, and the monarchical system that preceded capitalist relations was overthrown (they began to develop immediately after the change in statehood). Moreover, the working people were the engine of the process, but power passed to the bourgeoisie.
In the Russian Empire, this was not so: along with the interim government, headed by immigrants from the upper class of the bourgeoisie, an alternative government emerges - the Soviets, formed from the class of workers and peasants. Such dual power existed until the events of October.
The main result of the February 1917 revolution was the arrest of the royal family and the overthrow of the autocracy.
October revolution in 1917
The examples of the revolution in Russia are undoubtedly led by the Great October Socialist Revolution. She fundamentally turned the tide of not only the history of Russia, but also the world. Indeed, one of its results is a way out of the imperialist war.
The essence of the revolution-coup was as follows: the Provisional Government was displaced , and the power in the country passed to the Bolsheviks and the Left Social Revolutionaries. At the head of the coup was V.I. Lenin.
As a result, a redistribution of political forces took place: the power of the proletariat became supreme, lands were handed over to peasants, and factories under the control of the workers. There was also the sad, tragic outcome of the revolution - the civil war, which split society into two warring fronts.
Revolutionary movement in France
As in the Russian Empire, in France, the movement to overthrow the autocracy consisted of several stages, the country went through its great revolutions. There were 4 of them in its history. The movement began in 1789 with the French Revolution.
During this coup, it was possible to overthrow the absolute monarchy and establish the First Republic. However, the resulting revolutionary terrorist Jacobin dictatorship could not last long. Her power ended in the next coup of 1794.
The revolution in July 1830 is commonly called the “Three Glorious Days”. She established on the board of the liberal monarch Louis-Philippe I, the “King Citizen,” who finally abolished the King’s immutable right to enact laws.
The revolution of 1848 establishes the Second Republic. It happened because Louis-Philippe I gradually began to move away from the initial liberal beliefs. He abdicates the throne. The revolution of 1848 allowed the country to hold democratic elections, during which the people (including workers and other "lower" sections of society) chose Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew of the famous emperor.
The third republic, which forever ended the monarchical system of society, took shape in France in September 1870. After a protracted crisis of power, Napoleon III decides to surrender (then there was a war with Prussia). The headless country is holding elections urgently. Power passes alternately from monarchists to republicans, and only in 1871 did France legislatively become a presidential republic, where a ruler elected by the people has been in power for 3 years. Such a country existed until 1940.